ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In the first half, Michigan fired shot after shot over the Syracuse defense. But they were hurried, defended, fed by passes from the perimeter and ultimately, the Wolverines were throwing shot after shot off the rim.

Syracuse was the same team it had been for much of the early part of the season. It generally controlled the paint, got nothing from the perimeter and had its best weapon, Rakeem Christmas, in foul trouble. Still, when the Orange players were winning when they jogged off at halftime.

But when they came back on the Crisler Arena floor for the second half, they let themselves slip into a shootout. With Michigan guards splitting the Syracuse zone, SU had entered a game it couldn’t win. Soon the No. 17 Wolverines (6-1) were raining those same 3s over the Syracuse (5-2) zone, but into the hoop off kick outs and UM was on its way to beating the Orange 68-65 in front of 12,707.

“Once they get to the middle, it’s broken,” SU guard Trevor Cooney said. “The zone is broken.”

With 16:39 left in the game UM guard Spike Albrecht drove at Christmas and as the Orange forward stepped, Albrecht threw a behind-the-back pass to forward Ricky Doyle, who finished with a two-handed slam as Christmas slapped him on the arm.

The paint had belonged to Syracuse in the first half, even with Christmas in foul trouble. But as Michigan stole a foothold at the heart of the court, the Wolverines started to take over the game.

“We let them get inside a couple times and they got some baskets under the basket that we shouldn’t let happen,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said.

With the zone broken open, there was only so much SU’s bigs could do to save the rest of the team. When they stepped to UM guards slashing to the basket, they left forwards open behind them for easy finishes.

And even when Cooney heated up for his best performance of the season, shooting 4-of-7 from 3-point range in the second half, Syracuse could only stay in the game. It couldn’t take it back.

Defensive stops were few and far between for the Orange. When they did happen, SU would cough up one of its 10 second-half turnovers on the other end. Syracuse could survive, but with Michigan taking the lane, the Orange could cover the corners or the blocks. Not both.

“We let them get penetration down there and get some baskets inside because we were so concerned about their 3-point shooters,” Boeheim said.

Forward Chris McCullough re-entered the game with 6:56 left with four fouls to his name and SU down 58-49. Locking up the paint and snaring defensive rebounds, he pushed Syracuse back into the game.

It would wind down into a series of fouls and timeouts that Syracuse had a chance to come out of on top of. SU tied the game with just a minute remaining, but a game it had lost control of in the middle of the second half became a game it trailed in for good 26 seconds later.

With 31 seconds left and the game tied, Albrecht caught the ball off a kick out at the top of the key. Cooney charged him, but as he turned to watch Michigan’s 16th 3-point attempt of the half take flight, he saw UM’s eighth triple of the frame fall through the net, giving Michigan a 66-63 lead, and one it wouldn’t relinquish.

“I definitely think my guards are definitely better than them,” McCullough said. “(But) today I think they had it in the second half.”

Published on December 2, 2014 at 9:49 pm

Contact Jacob: jmklinge@syr.edu | @Jacob_Klinger_